5th Sunday in
Lent March
21, 2010
Genesis 22:1-14 The Lord Will Provide!
Dear
fellow redeemed,
“The
Lord will provide!” Have you ever wanted
to smack someone for saying that?
* Maybe
you heard this said when you were laid off after thirty years of faithful
service at the same company.
* Or it was said at the time your husband
divorced you. You had just spent half
your life standing by him “for better or worse, richer or poorer”.
* Or it was said by some parishioner when
your mother died at a young age. You could not imagine who could replace her
and take care of you each day.
* “The Lord will provide!” You wondered at the time whether they really
believed what they were telling you. Or
where they simply feeding you some pious cliche? “Remember, you’re a Christian, now”, they
seemed to be saying in their holier-than-thou talk.
* Maybe they were deluded, living in some
fantasy world. Or maybe they felt just as helpless as you did, and they
didn’t know what else to say.
“The
Lord will provide!” Maybe Isaac could
relate to a certain extent.
* Was it really believable what his father,
Abraham, was telling him?
He’s told they’re to go on this three day journey. The purpose?
They shall travel to a special place designated by God and offer up the
burnt offering.
* Well, this sounds important, important
enough that when they arrived, a lamb would be waiting for them. But where is this creature?
* Sure, you’ve told me: “The Lord will
provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. “ So, why have you bound me? Why are you placing me on this altar
on top of the wood? Why are you reaching
for your knife?
* Oh, I get it! I’m the sacrifice! You’ve just been doling out this religious
talk to keep me quiet; to go along! God has
given you this horrible command and you don’t know what else to say to me!
We
don’t know exactly what was going through Isaac’s mind, but we may assume in
time that Abraham explained things to him, and his father’s incredible test,
became his test.
* Abraham’s test had to do with: who did he
love more, his son, or the Lord God. And so would Isaac be tested. Who did he trust
more, himself; his own instincts, or God’s Word? The latest Word was: the Lord will provide
despite how impossible life’s tests may seem.
* No doubt, Isaac trusted God’s Word.
He would simply follow his father lead in this matter.
* And
it didn’t take too long to receive some reassurance in this matter.
There
were Abraham’s words to the two men who had accompanied them on the trip. Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy
will go over there and worship and come again to you. Both
of them would return, he was saying.
* And then of course, there were his words
to Isaac who in time had reason to be curious, wondering: Okay. How is this going to play out?
Where are we going to find a lamb for the sacrifice?
* Abraham
assured him: God will provide for himself the lamb .
True Abraham had been commanded to offer up his son as the
sacrifice.
But it was also true that Abraham believed the right kind of
sacrifice would take place in the
end.
* So it didn’t matter what Isaac
thought. His father had assured the
servants they’d both return. And a lamb
would be offered up as the proper offering.
But
maybe more relevant is what was going through Abraham’s mind.
* This test didn’t make any sense. It was an impossible test. On the one hand, God had promised the Messiah
would come from the seed of his son.
On the other hand, Abraham is commanded to sacrifice the same
son.
* It seemed God was contradicting
himself. So what was up here? Was God going back on his word? Had he been lying to Abraham up until now?
* Or
maybe this command wasn’t from God at all.
Maybe Satan was messing with him.
Or maybe this crazy scheme was a figment of Abraham’s overly
active imagination. Perhaps he
was delusional and living in some fantasy land.
* As with Isaac, we don’t know Abraham s
exact thoughts.
But had he been thinking any one of these things, we may
presume he was listening to his reason rather than God’s Word.
We
may be reminded of the Jews in today’s Gospel reading.
* They set out to test Jesus, using their
reason to prove that he has a demon.
But as Jesus did so routinely, he turns the tables and ends
up testing them.
* Did they really know who he was? He says to them: Truly, truly, I say to
you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.
* Well, that was quite a promise, they thought. Now, we know that you have a demon! Are you greater than our father, Abraham,
who died?
* And sometimes we too doubt things
are adding up as the Lord has assured us.
You’ve made me quite a promise, Lord, telling me you’ll provide your
support even under the current circumstances.
* Look at me!
I’ve got cancer! Are you greater
than the wages of sin that brings death for everyone on earth?
* Are you stronger than the forces of sin
and evil which have caused my daughter to disown me, my business to go
bankrupt, that recent accident to cripple a loved one?
* What will you provide? How am I supposed to believe you?
Well,
if we think we have a case against God by our superior reasoning, let’s return
to our lesson.
* Think about this. What God in heaven could
see any possible benefit coming from this man killing his son? So, Abraham should be tested!
But slaughter his only born son?! Why?
* To demonstrate to Abraham and all future
children of Abraham that reason cannot find the answers God would give us.
Only his Word can give us such answers.
* Because
reason is corrupted by sin, reason is inclined to see man as the solution to
his problems, rather than God. That s
why we need God’s tests.
God must show us that reason often times only leads us off
course.
* It’s possible Abraham, Sarah and even
Isaac had slipped into some’very faulty reasoning concerning Isaac s
future. It’s conceivable they had come
to believe that Isaac himself was the Messiah.
* That’s why Abraham’s test was
necessary. What the Lord would teach
them instead, is that Isaac wasn’t worthy of this remarkable blessing.
No. He was deserving
of the same judgment as any other sinner.
Even
so, it may hardly seem fair. The most
important tests in life, are the ones for which we don’t have a chance to
study. So how do we pass such a
test?
* There
is only one other possibility.
Instead of relying on our reason, we trust in God’s promises.
* Recall what Abraham declares – both in the
opening’verse and when he’s about to take his knife to slay his son.
Here am I. he says with unbending determination to listen
to God’s voice.
And he could listen and would
listen. That was the point!
* This test would not teach the Lord
what he needed to know about Abraham.
It would teach Abraham what he needed to know about the
Lord.
* After
being told not to lay his hand on the boy, Abraham lifted up his eyes and
looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. God was true to his Word. He always provides what he promises.
And
our tests teach us the same thing.
* Never is our future placed in jeopardy
when we listen to God!
No matter where his Word seems to be leading us and no matter
how crazy or dangerous it may appear, he will provide and deliver us from life s
tests.
* And God is faithful; he will not let you
be tempted beyond what you can bear. But
when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out, so that you can stand up
under it (1 Corinthians 10:13).
* There are many times when the road in
front of us seems to be leading in one direction, with one possible
destination, taking us to our doom.
* However, the solution to every impossible
test is Christ.
Like Abraham we simply lift our eyes and look and behold
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
* We see our substitute and every one of life s
tests is solved.
We see our sin covered by the blood of our Savior, and we
believe our Lord has provided. And all
is well!
To
be assured of this is why God’s people for many generations have come to his
house. This is where we get to see
the Lamb.
* It’s why Abraham was willing to make the
long journey to the land of Moriah. Unless the lamb made his appearance, not
only was his son in serious danger, so was his faith.
* The lamb for the burn offering, you see,
is what defined the people’s religion.
It’s what it meant to be a believer. The animal was slain for their sin.
And if you believed in the promise connected to this sacrifice
which pointed to your future redeemer, you received forgiveness of sins.
* This Abraham knew. There was no such thing as true worship
without the Lamb. True and God-pleasing
worship was not about human sacrifices.
It was about the Lamb who made the people of God holy
in his sight.
And
it’s no different today. The divine
service is not about our sacrifices; what we give God. It’s about what God gives us.
* The divine service is where we find the
Lamb and where the Lord provides forgiveness for every last sin.
* And did you happen to notice that the Lamb
of God does appear in today’s reading?
Answer this: who provides the substitute sacrifice?
* It s
the angel of the Lord! That’s’very interesting,
for the Old Testament’s references to the angel of the Lord is none
other than Christ.
* So it was Christ who offered a
substitute for Isaac, just as it is Christ who offers himself as our
substitute! In both cases it’s the Lord who provides.
He provides for our rescue from sin and death.
* That means no matter how bleak things
appear to you today, God’s going to take care of you. Everything’s going to be
fine! The Lord will provide!
Do
those words sound like something from a fantasy-based fable?
If
so, maybe you’ll appreciate hearing about the milkmaid and her pail.
* A farmer’s daughter had been out to milk
the cows, and was returning to the dairy carrying her pail of milk upon her
head. As she walked along, she began
musing to herself: The milk in this pail will provide me with cream, which I
will make into butter and take to the market to sell.
* With the money I’ll then buy a number of
eggs, and these, when hatched, will produce chickens. Then I shall sell them and with the money
they bring in I will buy myself a new gown, which I shall wear when I go to the
fair; and all the young fellows will admire it, and come to me.
But I shall toss my head and have nothing to say to them.
* Forgetting all about the pail in her deep
musing, the farmer’s daughter did toss her head. And down went the pail, all the milk was
spilled, and all her fine castles in the air vanished in a moment! The moral?
* Do
not count your chickens before they are hatched.
Is
that what you shall deduce when the Lord gets you thinking about what
will be?
* It seems’very nice and all, the Lord
dying for me and then promising he’ll take care of me today, tomorrow, and
every day thereafter.
But I better not count my chickens yet!
* That’s what many in this world would tell
you, to be sure.
They think of you as that overly pious and delusional believer.
Their opinion, they base on your regular attendance at the
divine service.
* You get up early on Sunday morning. You go through the aggravation and stress of
getting ready for church. You drive to
Triune God believing in your heart and soul that everything will be fine. Seek first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matt 6:33).
Is
that what you shall think about God’s promises?
It s
too early to count them; too early to count on them?
* No.
When God tells us: “The Lord will provide!” the Lord will indeed
provide.
He who gave up his own Son for the sins of the world, will
give you today his forgiveness in his Word and Sacrament. And he will give you tomorrow what you need
tomorrow for your body and soul.
* No. There’s nothing delusional about what
you believe or what I’m declaring in the Lord’s behalf. Am I telling you this because I don’t know
what else to say to all you who are destined to die some day?
* No.
I say it because the Lord promises it.
To say nothing about what your reason or your gut may tell you, this is
what God’s Word tells you!
The Lord will provide! Amen.
May
the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. Amen.
